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UNITED STATES Patented January 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

fTHEODORE XV. WASHBURN, OF BALDWINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TOGILMAN WAITE, OF BALDWINSVILLE, MASSACHU- SETTS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,764, dated January19, 1904.

Application filed June 29, 1903. Serial No 163,467. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE W. WASH- BURN, of Bald winsville, in thecounty of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented anImproved Folding Chair, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and eflicient means forholding a folding chair in its elevated positions, such that the chairmay be readily and quickly changed from one position to another whendesired; and the main feature of my invention consists in a foldingchair havingguides for the handle and pins rigidly attached to theguides to engage notches on the handle, such engagement with the uppernotches holding the chair in its higher position and such engagementwith the lower notches holding the chair in a second position, thenumber and position of the notches on the handle determining the severalpositions the chair may occupy and the height of the chair in thoseseveral positions.

Another feature of my invention is a spring connection to supplement theholding function of the-pins and notches.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a chairembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a partial rear elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is a section on line 8 3 of Fig. 1.

Chair-base A is mounted on crossed legs B and D, pivoted together at aand carrying wheels a a. Base A is pivotally connected to legs B at Z)and connected to legs D by link (Z. Handle E is pivoted at e to legs Dand carries rods F F, preferably of metal. Rods F F are rigidly attachedto handle E at f and have notches at f f.

Rigidly attached to the chair-base are guides G G, carrying pins g g,which engage the notches f f in rods FF, which pass through guides GrGr.

Handle E is connected with legs B by link H, which is pivotallyconnected to handle E at h and passes through bracket H, which ispivotally connected to leg B. This link also passes through spring 7Lwhose abutment is bracket H.

.In the best form of my invention the guides fast to handle E andnotched at f, can be curved, as shown, and thereby allow suflicientclearance to readily disengage the pins g from the notches f, and thecurved rods F and guides G will cooperate to insure the smooth and easymotion of the base as the base is lowered or raised and also give theproper change of angle to the handle E. This is in itself a valuablefeature of my invention.

Assuming my chair to be held in the position shown in Fig. I, the chairis lowered by slightly raising the chair-base and drawing the handleslightly away from the base, when the pins will ride by the edge of thenotches on the rods F F and guides G G will pass down along rods F F,and the pins will then engage the next lower notches on the rods andhold the chair in the next lower position, when the chair may rest onthe wheels and be rolled about. Link H tends to draw the handle andchair-base together, and so to hold the pins and notches in engagement,and passing back and forth through its spring-bracket H allows for therelative changes in position of the handle and base.

Of course I may have any desired number of notches on the rods toprovide for the desired number of positions in which the chair is to beheld.

I prefer to use a notched rod and a guide at each side of the chair, asin that case the chair will be stronger and more symmetrical.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The folding chair above describedcomprising a chair-base; crossed legs pivoted together and to thechair-base; a handle-frame whose uprights are pivoted near their ends tothe rear legs; guide-eyes each rigidly attached to the chair-base, andeach with a pin rigidly attached to and extending across its guide-eye;rods, each rigidly attached at its ends to the uprights of thehandle-frame, and each passing through its guide-eye; and notches in theedge of each rod, adapted to engage the fixed pins on the guide-eyes,and to be disengaged from those pins when the chair-base is slightlylifted and held out of engagement when the handle-frame is slightlyswung away from the chair-base, allowing the chair to be lowered to anew position, all substantially as described.

2. In a folding chair the combination of a chair-base; crossed legspivoted together and to the base; a handle-frame Whose uprights arepivoted near their ends to the rear legs; a

rod pivoted at its lower end to one of the uprights of the handle-frame;a bracket through which that rod extends and which is pivoted to one ofthe front legs, and a spiral spring with its inner end on the bracket,and its outer' end under the head of the rod, all substantially asdescribed.

3. In a folding chair the combination of a chair-base; crossed legspivoted together and to the chair-base; a handle-frame Whose uprightsare pivoted near their ends to the rear flatcurved rods, and the handleframe and rods mu st swing slightly away from the chairbase as thechair-base is moved to its different 3 positions.

THEODORE W. WASHBURN.

Witnesses:

B. A. FIsK, I C. C. SPEARE.

